Outsiders
by OneDayAtATime
Summary: The Wastelands, renowned for its harsh environment, is still home to various predatory creatures. Milvus did not mean to crash into it, especially into a feared raptor's fiery territory. OC-centric.
1. Chapter 1: Crash

_As usual, the characters do not belong to me._

**OUTSIDERS**

**01 CRASH**

Fresh air. Away from his sorry excuse of brothers. That was all he wanted. And yet, life has a weird sense of humour when he spotted a familiar skimmer below. From the looks of it, the owner wasn't aware of his presence yet, so the thought of total annihilation of the Interceptors might just be the lemonade of the day. He, however, had forgotten that there is a reason why this one is a survivor. So what he had now is a heck of a chase and dogfight.

It took a whole flight to the next terra before he had finally caught up to his prey, but the wings of their ride collided. Try as the human might; their wings are snagged together, leaving the riders in the mercy of velocity and their shifting weight. He made a huge swipe at her with his powerful arm, but she quickly ducked and kicked him in the chest. He grabbed her extended foot and earned a harder kick to his face with her other foot.

"Let go! You'll crash us both!" The human cried in anger.

The king of Bogaton sneered. "If I am going down, so will you!"

"You insufferable- aaaaahhhh!"

A butte made its presence known, and they both jumped off. Their skimmers collided headlong into the rock formation, effectively sending debris of rocks and metal to rain around them. The human had pulled out its parachute but a sharp piece of metal pierced through the top, so she struggled to keep aloft. He was about to tug at his chute as well until he felt a sick thud on his forehead. He managed to catch a glimpse of rock bounce away, laced with his blood. His vision was blurring, and he was falling, fast. He closed his eyes. At least he wouldn't have to deal with his brothers' incompetence anymore.

Just before the darkness claimed him, he felt soft arms around him.

* * *

He awoke with a sharp slap across his face. He replaced his groan with a deep growl when his vision slowly returned, rewarding him with a sight he loathe. Repton attempted to reach out to snap the filthy creature's neck, but instead found his arms bound tightly to his side with some makeshift rope and chains. He even discovered that his feet were tied together with the same material, although there was enough length in between for a stride. He attempted to kick off the binds.

"I wouldn't do that is I were you." The human warned him with a strange calm demeanour. However, its green eyes still regarded him with contempt. "The chains are fortified with minerals native to your terra." It even dared to lean closer to his face. "Which means..." It smirked too confidently to his liking. "You won't be able to rip it off you even if you try." It grabbed him by his neck and forcefully pulled him up. He wondered where this puny creature found its strength to do so – he was made of raw muscles of power, whereas it was simply a bag of fragile flesh and bones.

"Move." It commanded while pushing him forward harshly. He turned his head and hissed in spite at his enemy, but it held its weapon in front of his face. "And don't you even try anything funny." What followed after that was an excruciating pain in his back. What was supposed to be a lash to knock the weapon off his offender's hands, was a crude stub down his spine.

He growled at his captor. "For someone who claims to be honorific, I find thisss," He gestured at his mutilated area. "-very un-knightly."

"Says the one who ambushed me." The human returned. "That," She pointed to where his tail had been. "-is more of your fault, really." Starling jabbed her thumb at the wreck behind them. What used to be skimmers had been reduced to burning shrapnel. "Your tail probably snapped off somewhere when we crashed." She proceeded to prod his back with her nunchucks. "And thanks to you, we are walking." His captor gestured the scenery in mock grandeur - the wastelands.

He chuckled. "Are you serioussss? What makes you think I'll let you leash me through this cursed place?"

The human tapped her chin in mock wonder. "Let's see... hot smelting lava, sulphuric gas, lava worms, lava bugs, humongous predatory wasteland creatures... Yep, pretty much the reason why neither of us are willing to stay here for too long. The crash would sound like the dinner bell to most of them by now."

He rumbled a chuckle. "I'm not afraid of them." Repton then took a step closer to the human, but she did not flinch one bit. "What I meant is what makes you think I would let YOU order me around?"

She tugged at the rope that was connected to his binds. "The way I look at it, Repton, you are now my prisoner. And I am you best chance of getting out of here alive. At least until I hand you over to justice." She shoved him again. "Now, move it."

His tongue flicked momentarily. _Such an arrogant creature_. Repton noted that the first thing he will do once they get out of here, is to gut her slowly. "My brothers will find me." He hissed at the former Interceptor, but he turned and walked anyway.

Starling nodded. "I have people looking for me too." With that, they both made their way through the alien terrain.

* * *

_Comments and constructive critiques, please :D Thanks for reading!_


	2. Chapter 2: Bump

_Firstly, I apologize to everyone for the long hiatus of this fiction. I have not totally abandoned it, but somehow I decided to scrap the original idea and take it on a new direction. It is now less about the original Repton/Starling pairing, but it will eventually get there (since this is why this story is written in the first place). I intend to keep the first chapter, and updates will be done in short snippets instead as it would be faster to write (and straight to the point)._

_Life has been busy lately, but I thank everyone for your extreme patience_

* * *

**OUTSIDERS**

**CHAPTER 2: BUMP**

"My head hurts," Milvus thought. Next, he noticed the ringing in his ears, followed by the thick taste of ash and dirt in the back of his throat. The throb in his head began to flare out to the tip of his limbs, causing a whimper to escape his dry lips. He suddenly became very aware of the hard ground under his belly, and the texture under his fingers strongly suggested that he was not in his bed.

The youth slowly forced his eyes open. There was a chaos of red and yellow around him, but a steadier movement in the distance caught his attention. His brain took a moment to register that it was actually fire, and a moment longer to realize that it used to be a prize skimmer.

Milvus lowered his head with a curse. His father would surely kill him this time. "If the Wastelands don't do me in first," He dared to muse before he allowed himself to slip into unconsciousness.


	3. Chapter 3: Green

**OUTSIDERS**

**CHAPTER 03: GREEN**

"I thought I'd find you here." A warm voice said behind him. "You really should not run out in the middle of your training."

Milvus kept his eyes at the pond while his mother sat down next to him. He felt her run her hand through his purple mop of hair, and in a few more strokes he found himself lowering his head onto her lap.

"Why does he hate me so much?" He sighed as he loosely caped his wings around him.

"That's not true,"His mother assured him in that same warm tone. He could hear a tint of sadness in them, but Milvus was not sure why. "Your father does love you, Mil. That's why he's being tough on you."

"Funny," He snorted. "He adores Robyn, but I don't see him yelling at her whenever she messed up her stances."

"Now, now," He knew his mother is chiding him. "Your father is pushing you hard because he wants the best for you. Also," Her hand abandoned the gentle strokes to angle his face at her. "You really should take your studies seriously, young man."

He stared at her eyes a little longer. They were so different than his own. He pulled her hand off his chin and held it in his four-fingered ones. They are so different. _'No,'_ He decided. _'I'm different.'_

He sat up and looked at his reflection in the pond. He was greeted by green scales instead of soft, pink skin. "He's ashamed of me, isn't he?" His taloned hand touched the horns protruding from his scalp.

His mother suddenly knelt in front of him and she cupped his face in her hands. "Don't you ever think of that."

"But is it true?" He asked her hopelessly. "I sometimes hear the kitchen maids whispering. They said that I've been cursed, and that-"

"You listen to me," She said firmly. "It doesn't matter what they said. You are an amazing boy – you're smart, strong, brave, and your father _is_ proud of you. You are beautiful."She caressed the scales lining his cheeks. "If they cannot see that, then that's their problem." She must have seen the doubt in his eyes, because she gathered him into her arms. "I love you," she said. The fierce conviction in her eyes told him it was true.

Milvus reluctantly returned the embrace, mindful that his spikes would not catch onto her dress or accidentally scratch her again. He closed his eyes as he surrendered himself into the temporary shelter of his mother's arms.

* * *

Despite the strong protest of his mind and body, Milvus can already feel himself being pulled away from the blissful darkness. His eyelids lazily slid open halfway, but it quickly snapped wide awake when he realized a pair of golden orbs staring back at him. His body immediately attempted to moved away from them, only to found his back pushed up against a solid surface. He took a quick look around him; a torch hung from a nearby wall suggested that he was in a cage made out of the bones of a larger animal.

"You're awake." The owner of the glowing yellow eyes hissed.

Milvus noticed it flicked its forked tongue out as it continued to study him from outside cage, and he immediately recognized that the creature was a Wasteland Raptor. The discovery made the boy feel his stomach twist into knots – by reputation, the red-scaled raptors are far more aggressive than their Bogaton cousins despite their smaller stature, and are prone to eat anything that happened to drop into their territory. Milvus began to panic when it began to open the door the cage and reached its crude talons towards him. In a blur of a movement, the boy pulled his wings and tail tighter to his body and then threw his own talons at it.

The raptor howled in pain when sharp claws lacerated its palms. Milvus took this opportunity to barrel into it and quickly bounced off him towards the only exit he saw. He ran through the twists and turns of the earthy corridor, manoeuvring past bewildered raptors and blindly rushing into new openings. The shouts and hisses of confused raptors were loud behind him, causing Milvus to work his legs harder. Unfortunately, he was not prepared to stop when he met an obstacle in the next turn.

The structure shattered upon impact, and it did little to slow his tumbling. By the time the world stopped spinning, Milvus was aware that he was surrounded by a crowd of confused and angry red raptors.

"What is the meaning of this?!" A loud voice boomed overhead. The room was suddenly silenced.

Milvus swivelled his attention to the owner of the voice, and it brought him to a huge figure sitting in what seemed to be a throne made out of bones and skin. The green raptor seemed out of place amidst the sea of red and yellow, but Mulvis was more concerned about its furious yellow eyes flashing dangerously at him. The little green boy gulped audibly.


End file.
